One of the attacks was claimed by the Islamic State organization
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Uganda, an East African country neighboring the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was the target of two deadly attacks within 48 hours. Authorities accuse ex-rebels of Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a terrorist group affiliated with the Islamic State (IS).
What happened ?
On Monday evening, 25th, a homemade bomb exploded inside a bus in Lungala, near Kampala, causing one death and several injuries. According to the police, it is a suicide attack carried out by a 23-year-old Ugandan, already listed by the authorities as a member of the ADF group. Two days earlier, a bomb attack in a popular café in the capital killed a young waitress and injured three customers. It has been claimed by the Islamic State organization which presents the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) as its regional branch.
Who are the ADF?
The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) are a Muslim rebel group born in Uganda, but which has been operating in neighboring DRC for more than 25 years. The ADF militia terrorizes defenseless civilians in eastern Congo where they have claimed thousands of lives. As early as April 2019, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for certain attacks committed by the ADF, but a UN group of experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo claimed at the end of 2020 that it had “not been able to establish any direct link” between the organization. and ADFs. In March 2021, the United States for its part designated the ADF among the “terrorist groups” affiliated with Daesh by calling them ISIS-DRC (or in French Daech-RDC).
What threat for Uganda?
Uganda takes this new terrorist threat seriously. President Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled the country with an iron fist for 35 years, asked the population to be vigilant, especially in places of gatherings such as hotels, churches, mosques or transport. The police, for their part, said that “a number” of ADF activists suspected of “preparing a plan for a serious attack on important infrastructure” had been arrested. They are said to be militants belonging to “sleeper cells” linked to the Islamic State group.
An attempted attack attributed to the ADF had already been foiled last August. For the Ugandan authorities, all the attacks that target the country today were ordered by a Ugandan leader of the ADF who has been living in hiding in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for several years.